Grey's Anatomy's Shonda Rhimes: Cristina and Owen "Absolutely" Still Love Each Other

Calzona fans weren't the only ones hurting after the Grey's Anatomyseason finale.

Once again, Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Owen (Kevin McKidd) seemingly broke up — but this time it was a somewhat amicable split. Realizing Owen would always regret not having children, Cristina decided to walk away from him in the closing moments of the episode, with Owen only calling after her instead of running after her.

"She did walk away and he didn't walk after her, which I thought was very interesting," executive producer Shonda Rhimes told reporters following the finale. "I love that last shot where he's like, 'This isn't over,' which is what he was saying, but he was not following her, and Owen is always sort of following her. I feel like that was a very definite moment for them."

As much as those C/O fans cursed the inevitable, Cristina and Owen were destined to go down this path again eventually. The duo previously broke up after Cristina had an abortion, which Owen had been against. So it seemed only natural that getting them back together in what has been a decently healthy relationship — in that they avoided conflict at all costs this season aside from the hospital sale — would lead them back to the topic of children once again. It was something Rhimes even foretold earlier in the season.

But that doesn't mean the duo is done for good. "Do they still love each other? Absolutely," Rhimes said. "Is that love ever going to die? I don't know. As writers, that's a journey we're still struggling with. ... I like where we're going with the next season, and I like what we've talked about and what we have planned. It's going to be really interesting."

Still, that doesn't mean Rhimes will go back on Cristina's stance to not have a child. "I know a lot of fans just want us to end everything by giving Cristina a baby [thinking it's] going to make everyone happy, which infuriates me as a woman and as a human being, and as someone who loves babies, it drives me nuts," she said. "But I adamantly stand by Cristina's ability and desire to not have a baby and to be happy about that. I think that there's something great about this struggle and what's going to make her happy and see where they go next."